"EPA has greenlit a flood project halted by the Bush administration, saying the new version of the Yazoo Backwater Pumps would not be covered by its 2008 veto of the project.
The surprise move has shocked environmental groups, which say it sets up a dangerous precedent and sidesteps the scientific review process.
A decade ago, EPA determined that the pumps project — proposed in 1941 to alleviate flooding along the Yazoo River, a tributary to the Mississippi River — would threaten up to 67,000 acres of wetlands that serve as critical habitat for migratory birds.
An EPA veto is usually seen as a final action, effectively killing a project. The agency has issued 13 vetoes during its history and modified them just four times, usually for small changes."
Ariel Wittenberg and Hannah Northey report for E&E News December 2, 2020.
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